By James Neff
August 5, 2026
Sixteen Democratic lawmakers want Oregon State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner to conduct what they say is a long overdue comprehensive audit of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund.
In an Aug. 3 letter, the lawmakers told Steiner, a fellow Democrat, they are concerned about the fund’s overreliance on private equity to boost returns.
“We believe this imbalance would have been addressed much earlier if Treasury and the Oregon Investment Council had conducted investment program audits.”
Oregon law requires a comprehensive audit of the giant fund every four years, but it’s been 10 years since the last one.
Lawmakers’ concerns about the state’s private equity investments have grown since an OJP investigation in August 2025 found that Treasury staff and its oversight council invested billions of dollars more than their own targets called for in…
